LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

(SMITHSO.MAX DEPOSIT.) 

UNITEDSTATRS OF AMERICA. 




/>/ y y / // /^y // / '//^//a. J. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Life and Charactei^ 



Beverly B. Douglas, 

(A REPRESENTATIVE FROM VIRGINIA), 



DELIVERED IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 
FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION. 






PUBLISHED 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1879- 



FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION. 

Congress of the United States, 
In the House of Representatives, February 27, 1879. 
Resolved by the House of Representatives {the Senate conairring). That there be 
printed twelve thousand copies of the memorial addresses delivered in the Senate 
and House of Representatives upon the life and character of the late Beverly B. 
Douglas, late a Representative from the State of Virginia; of which nine thou- 
sand shall be for the use of the House and three thousand for the use of the Senate. 

Attest: 

GEO. M. ADAMS, Clert. 



AN ACT providing for the engraving and printing of portraits to accompany memorial 
addresses on tlie late Representatives Leonard, Quinn, Welch, Williams, Douglas, Hart- 
ridge, and Schleicher. 

JSe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assetnblcd. That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is 
hereby authorized and directed to cause to be engraved and printed portraits of the 
late Representatives Leonard, Quinn, Welch, Williams, Douglas, Hartridge, and 
Schleicher, to accompany memori-ol addresses delivered in the Senate and House 
of Representatives in honor of the said deceased Representatives, and to defray 
the expenses thereof the necessary sum is hereby appropriated out of any money 
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sum to be immediately available. 
Approved, March 3, 1879. 



ADDRESSES 



Death of Beverly B. Douglas, 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 



January 7, 1879. 

Mr. HuNTON. In the discharge of a melancholy duty I rise to 
announce the death of my friend and colleague, the late Hon. B. B. 
Douglas, of Virginia, which took place in this city after a short ill- 
ness on the 22d of December last. I give notice that on the 22d of 
January I shall submit for the action of the House appropriate reso- 
lutions. I now offer for adoption the following : 

Resolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the 
death of Hon. B. B. Douglas, a Representative from the State of 
Virginia. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased this House do now adjourn. 

The resolutions were adopted, and in accordance therewith the 
House adjourned. 



January 22, 1879. 

Mr. GooDE. Mr. Speaker, on the 7th of the present month my 

colleague [Mr. Hunton] announced that he would to-day submit 

for the action of the House appropriate resolutions of respect to the 

memory of our late colleague, Hon. B. B. Douglas. Mr. Hunton 



4 ADDRESS OF MR. GOODE ON THE 

is unavoidably absent to-day, and by his request I offer the resolu- 
tions which I send to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the 
death of Hon. Beverly B. Douglas, a Representative from the 
State of Virginia. 

Resolved That the House do now suspend the consideration of 
all other business in order to pay appropriate respect to the memory 
of the lamented deceased. 

Resolved, That in token of regret the members of this House do 
wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved,, That the Clerk of this House do communicate these 
resolutions to the Senate of the United States. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the House do now adjourn. 



Address of Mr. Goode, of Virginia. 

Mr. Speaker: After the adjournment of the two Houses of Con- 
gress on Friday, the 20th of December, and while the members were 
busily engaged in making preparations to return to their families and 
their homes to enjoy the Christmas holiday, the friends of Hon. Bev- 
erly B. Douglas, of Virginia, were startled by the announcement 
that he was lying at the National Hotel, in this city, in a very criti- 
cal condition. Hastening to his bedside, his colleagues found him 
completely prostrated, and it was painfully apparent that his days 
upon earth were numbered and that he could not long survive. His 
family and friends were immediately summoned from Virginia by 
telegraph and arrived in this city on Saturday evening. If the faith- 
ful ministrations of a skillful physician, or the constant attention of 
syin])athizing friends, or the tender nursing of a fond and affectionate 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY E. DOUGLAS. 5 

daughter could have availed to stay the hand of the destroyer, our 
deceased friend would have still lived; but, alas, at such a time how 
vain is the help of man! He lingered through the night, and at an 
early hour on Sunday morning, the 2 2d of December, while the city 
was still wrapped in repose, his spirit left its earthly tabernacle and 
ascended to the God who gave it. His mortal remains were placed 
in charge of a Congressional committee and conveyed to the family 
burial-place in the county of King William, in Virginia, where, on 
Monday afternoon, in the presence of his sorrowing and grief-stricken 
family and friends, they were committed to their final resting-place, 
and the solemn words, " earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," 
were pronounced over his grave by a venerable clergyman of the 
Episcopal church. 

Beverly B. Douglas was, in many respects, a very remarkable 
man, and it is eminently proper that the Representatives of the peo- 
ple upon this floor should pause for a time in their customary avoca- 
tions to review the history of his life, to recount his private virtues 
and public services, and to render a proper tribute of respect to his 
memory. He was born at Providence Forge, in New Kent County, 
Virginia, on the 21st of December, 1822. He received a liberal col- 
legiate education at William and Mary College and the famous Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh. He was graduated from the law school of 
Judge Beverly Tucker in 1843, and having been admitted to the bar 
in 1844 he practiced his profession for a short time in the county of 
New Kent and also in the city of Norfolk. Having married the 
daughter of Robin Pollard, a prominent citizen of King William, he 
located in that county in 1846 with as flattering prospects of success 
in hfe as any young man could reasonably desire. He rose rapidly 
to distinction in his profession, and soon occupied the front rank as 
an able practitioner and eloquent advocate. He was thoroughly 
versed in all the intricacies of the law, and enjoyed an enviable repu- 
tation as a safe, reliable counselor; but it was in the tri.il of causes 



6 ADDRESS OF MR. GOODE ON THE 

before the jury that his great talents shone most resplendently. His 
power over the juries in the circuit where he practiced was truly 
wonderful. He was engaged in many important and exciting trials, 
and however eminent the counsel associated with or anayed against 
him, it was always conceded that his was the speech of the occasion. 
Such was his acknowledged ability and so extensive was his popu- 
larity that when the convention to remodel the constitution of the 
State was called in 1850 he was chosen with great unanimity a mem- 
ber of that body from the district composed of the counties of King 
William, Hanover, Spottsylvania, and Caroline. His colleagues were 
Francis W. Scott, Corbin Braxton, Eustace Conway, and Edward 
Morris. After the ratification by the people of the new constitution, 
in the formation of which he had borne a conspicuous part, he was 
elected a member of the senate of Virginia in 1852, and served con- 
tinuously in that body until 1865. 

Among his colleagues in the general assembly during that period 
were such men as A. H. H. Stuart, Robert A. Coghill, Joseph Chris- 
tian, Henry W. Thomas, James Nelson, James F. Johnson, Alexander 
Rives, Robert Saunders, R. T. L. Beale, Frederick W. Coleman, 
George W. Randolph, John Robertson, Benjamin Rush Floyd, Hugh 
W. Sheffey, Allen T. Caperton, James L. Kemper, James Barbour, 
John Seddon, John B. Floyd, Muscoc R. H. Garnett, John C. 
Marye, and others not less prominent. Amid that galaxy of distin- 
guished names, whose fame is not confined to the commonwealth of 
Virginia, but is coextensive with the limits of the American Union, 
it is no exaggeration to say that Beverly B. Douglas was regarded 
as a "bright, particular star." He was not only esteemed as a worthy 
associate of those great men who have reflected so much luster upon 
the State which gave them birth, but he was an acknowledged leader, 
as is evidenced by the fact that from 1853 to 1858 he served as chair- 
man of the committee on finance in the senate, and as chairman of 
the committee on milit.nrv aflairs from 1861 to 1865 — four mcmornhlo 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 7 

years in the history of the commonwealth, during which she was 
swept throughout all her borders by the besom of destruction and 
every foot of her soil was trampled by the red, fiery hoof of war. 

Although a member of the general assembly, and therefore exempt 
from military service in the field, Mr. Douglas was not content to 
serve his State only in her legislative halls during that trying ordeal 
through which she was called to pass. He loved his native State and 
all her traditions. He had been reared in the State-rights school 
which taught him to believe that his paramount allegiance as a citi- 
zen was due to her. When, therefore, her soil was invaded by hostile 
armies, and Virginia called upon her sons to come to her defense, 
Beverly B. Douglas responded to her call with a heart as unfalter- 
ing and a courage as lofty and unflinching as ever animated the breast 
of his illustrious progenitor in the Highlands of Scotland, whose crest 
was the lion's head, and whose family motto was "Do or die." He 
entered the army as first lieutenant of " Lee's Rangers," a company 
commanded by W. H. F. Lee. He became the captain of his com- 
pany, and was afterward promoted to be major of the Fifth Virginia 
Cavalry, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. He 
was an ardent, enthusiastic, and consistent Democrat, and for the last 
thirty years has rendered valuable and conspicuous service in all the 
political conflicts which have occurred in Virginia. He was chosen 
by a State convention of his party a Presidential elector on the ticket 
of Breckinridge and Lane in i860; a delegate to the Democratic 
national convention which assembled in New York and nominated 
Seymour and Blair in 1868, and canvasser for the State at large in 
the celebrated campaign which resulted in the election of Gilbert C. 
Walker as governor of Virginia in 1869. 

No man of his day excelled Mr. Douglas in the discussion of 
political questions before the people. As a popular debater he was 
pre-eminently distinguished for his extensive, accurate information, 
his logical, compact argument, his keen, pungent wit, his scathing, 



withering invective, and his burning, impassioned oratory. When- 
ever it was announced that Douglas was to speak the people would 
come together in great crowds to hear him, and the many brilliant 
triumphs which he achieved on the hustings will long be remem- 
bered with pride and pleasure by his political friends and admirers. 
In November, 1874, Mr. Douglas was elected from the first Congres- 
sional district of Virginia a member of the Forty-fourth Congress, and 
again in November, 1876, he was elected a member of the Forty-fifth 
Congress. He did not take an active part in the proceedings of the 
House, and very rarely participated in its debates. Hence it may 
not be inappropriate to remark that the members of this body who 
have only known him here can form no proper conception of the 
forensic powers and intellectual vigor which have rendered his name 
a household word in Virginia. The most valuable service which he 
rendered here was as chairman of the select committee of nine in the 
Forty-fourth Congress to investigate the affairs of the Freedman's 
Savings-Bank, to ascertain all matters relating to its management, 
the causes of its failure, and the names of the parties responsible 
therefor. He undertook this work with a determined purpose and 
prosecuted it with commendable industry. His report, submitted on 
the 19th of May, 1S76, is a valuable contribution to the history of the 
times, showing clearly the origin and structure of the Freedman's 
Bank, how grossly it was mismanaged, how its funds were misapplied 
by the officers and agents, and how the poor freedman was deceived 
and betrayed by those to whom he confided the investment of his 
small, hard-earned savings. 

I have thus, Mr. Speaker, given a very imperfect sketch of the life 
and jjublic services of my departed colleague and friend. No man 
of his generation in Virginia had a more vigorous intellect, a more 
courageous temper, or a more generous disposition. That he had 
his faults and frailties it would be uncandid to deny. These were 
known to the public generally; but his intimate friends and associates 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 9 

only knew how to appreciate properly those rare magnetic quahties 
of the heart which drew around him and attached to him so warmly 
all who came within the circle of his personal acquaintance. I 
know that I utter a sentiment which will touch a responsive chord 
in the breasts of those who knew him best when I say that as a 
citizen no man was more patriotic and public spirited; as a friend 
no man was ever more unselfish and true; as a husband and father 
no man was ever more tender and devoted. That mother com- 
monwealth which he loved so well and upon whose bosom his 
mortal remains now calmly repose, will long mourn him as one 
of the noblest and brightest of her sons, and among her people 
the name of Beverly B. Douglas will long be held in grateful 
and affectionate remembrance. It is not for me, Mr. Speaker, to 
teach the moral lesson to be drawn from this sad and afflictive 
bereavement. In the presence of such a solemn event I feel that 
silence would be more eloquent than words. 

Since the organization of the Forty-fifth Congress seven members 
of the House of Representatives have been stricken down by the hand 
of death. As these notes of warning are ever and anon falling upon 
our ears it would be well for us all to pause in the midst of these busy 
and exciting scenes to reflect upon the shortness and uncertainty of 
human life, and to remember "what shadows we are and what 
shadows wc pursue." 



y^DDRESs OF Mr. Pollard, of /Aissourl 

Mr. Speaker: 

I come to buiy Ciusar, not to praise him. 

Shakespeare in his day recognized the fact that in delivering the 
funeral orations of men their unrestricted praise was common. From 
his day to ours this practice has not changed. It is indeed a pleasant 



lO ADDRESS OF MR. POLLARD OX THE 

task to recount the kind acts and good qualities of our departed 
friends, but duty to the Hving and justice to the dead require that a 
man's eulogist truthfully narrates his prominent characteristics; for 
no man in this life is all good — none perfect — and the biographer who 
only writes of his hero's merits is set down a failure and his works 
unread. 

I come to bury Mr. Douglas. "He was my friend, faithful 
and just to me." A friend was he indeed in all that the word 
means, although we never met till the Forty-fifth Congress as- 
sembled in October, 1877; but then, being on the same com- 
mittee and hence often together, strong ties of friendship rapidly 
formed. He was w-arm-hearted, generous, hospitable, brilliant as a 
conversationalist, eloquent, ardent in his friendships, and eager to 
resent any affront offered his friends. He was an earnest advocate 
for what he believed to be right, and his errors were always 
toward the weak and erring. On our committee work, where 
so many cases came from poor broken-down patentees for an 
extension of their patents, he was always in sympathy with those 
who had been pecuniarily unfortunate in their inventions, and was 
always ready to bend the rigid rules of the committee to assist 
them out of their misfortunes, and on more than one occasion did 
he eloquently and vehemently urge his fellow-committeemen to but 
that once give the poor applicant the benefit of another terra of 
his patent. 

What nobler quality can a man possess — a mind constantly on the 
alert to alleviate the miseries of the unfortunate? Such qualities of 
the heart bring hosts of friends and admirers. Mr. Douglas was 
loved and admired by all who knew him well. 

He was a liberal-minded man, as are all men of education and 
travel. 

It is he who thinks all Christendom is bounded by his horizon, 
th.it the whole boundless universe is inclosed within his immediate 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. I I 

neighborhood, who is your narrow-minded fellow who knmus he is 
right and who cannot be convinced that he, his family, or party ever 
did or ever could do wrong. He it is who always strictly follows the 
bidding of his party leaders and never concedes any good by the 
opposition. 

Such was not Mr. Douglas. He was a staunch Democrat, but 
felt always that there were many good men in the Republican party, 
and that that party had done much good. 

I remember the last conversation I had with him. It was in 
walking from his hotel to the Capitol but a few days before he 
died. In that conversation he referred to Virginia and the progress 
made in those localities where immigration had come since the 
war, and said the old State needed new blood; in fact, that whole 
conversation showed the breadth of his views and the hberality of 
his mind. The world needs more men of his ideas, and we should 
cultivate them. 

Thinking men have come to the conclusion that a country has 
more to fear from the ignorance of its own people than the assaults 
of its outward foes ; and to-day if our government has special 
ground to fear, it is because our citizens do not familiarize themselves 
with the people, their manners and customs, the habits, thoughts, 
and wishes of portions of our country remote from where they re- 
side. 

A man who, like Mr. Dougl.a.s was, is a leader in his neigjibor- 
hood, and who shapes its tone and feeling, is of more service in this 
direction than scores of those who follow. Mr. Douglas had one 
other quality for which he was noted— truthfulness — and whatever 
faults a man may have, if he possess the jewel truth they sink into 
insignificance. If we can implicitly rely upon every word a man 
utters we instinctively admire him, and in this regard at least bid our 
boys pattern after him ; but let a man be untruthful, and the world 
shrinks from him ; and though he have the brain of a Webster, the 



12 ADDRESS OF MR. HOOKER ON THE 

logic of a Calhoun, or the eloquence of a Clay, he is nothing; his 
life is a waste, and strive he never so hard, he cannot rise. 

Truth is in each flower, 
As well as in the solemnest things of Cod. 
Truth is the voice of nature and of time; 
Truth is the startling monitor within us. 
Naught is without it; it comes from the ttars, 
The golden sun, and every breeze that blows. 
Truth ! It is God, and God is everywhere. 

Still, Mr. Douglas had faults, and what man possessing such strong 
social qualities has not? Yet no man who knew him would for once 
think of him other than as a brilliant, noble, kind, generous man, 
thoroughly well-bred and hospitable, with a large, warm heart, always 
on the alert to do some good to poor, suffering humanity. Requiescat 
in pace. 



Address of Mr. Rocker, of Mississippi. 

Mr. Speaker : In rising to pay my tribute to our departed friend 
and brother, I have no studied phrases prepared for the occasion. I 
do so because it so chanced that the relations which existed between 
Mr. Douglas and myself in the first Congress (the Forty-fourth) 
in which we both served brought me into intimate acquaintance and 
daily familiar intercourse with him. 

It so chanced that I was appointed a member of the committee to 
investigate the Freedman's Bank, of which he was made the chair- 
man, in the first session of the Forty-fourth Congress, to which my 
friend from Virginia [Mr. Goode] has so appropijately alluded. On 
that committee it was my fortune to meet with Mr. Douglas daily; 
to learn the temper and disposition of the man; to judge somewhat 
of the qualities alike of his head and heart. During the long months 
that we sat together in this Hall and served upon the same commit- 
tee I learned to know him; I learned to love him. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 13 

He belonged to that great class of humanity that the Vicegerent 
of God on earth came to save, rather than the righteous. But he 
possessed so many of those great traits of character, intellectual and 
social, which make men distinguished and beloved, that no one could 
know him in all the intimate relations of friend and associate without 
feeling for him that profound respect which the people whom he rep- 
resented and the citizens of Virginia throughout her borders always 
felt for him. 

The history of the deceased has been alluded to by my distin- 
guished friend, his colleague. It will be observed from the facts nar- 
rated by him that at the age of twenty-two years Mr. Douglas had 
graduated at the law-school presided over by that great jurist and 
eminent lawyer, Beverly Tucker, of Virginia, whose brother, as a 
commentator and lecturer upon the laws of our land, takes position 
side by side with that great English jurist and eminent commentator 
who was the author of the horn-book of our profession. 

When Mr. Douglas had graduated at the early age of twenty-two 
his father's love for him and regard for his welfare led him to send 
the young man to that country from which his ancestors came. He 
went to Edinburgh, and, as he once told me himself, at the instance 
of his father's brother pursued the study of another profession, that 
of medicine. In that seat of learning which adorns the country of 
his ancestors, and which has given us some of the greatest men in 
the old country and our own, men who render illustrious institutions 
of learning by their great precepts and moral example, he finished 
that education which had been begun in his own land in the ancient 
institution of William and Mary, that had graduated among its alumni 
some of the most distinguished men as jurists and patriots that our 
country has ever known. 

But he returned to his home to follow the calling and vocation for 
which nature and education had so eminently fitted him. Those of 
us who happened to be associated with him here in the investigation 



of facts, in the illustration of truth, and in the development of great 
jirinciples dear to the hearts of the people, know that in all his in- 
stincts of mind and soul he was pre-eminently qualified to adorn that 
profession which the greatest of English jurists had said embraces 
within its limits some of the noblest as also some of the meanest of 
mankind. A great New England lawyer, when he proposed to leave 
his provincial town to. settle in the metropolis of Boston, was told 
that the profession was crowded, and that it would be difficult for a 
young man to obtain a position in it. His reply was, "There is al- 
ways room at the top." Thus there was room for Beverly B. 
Douglas. 

He married in early life, and removed his residence from the coimty 
of New Kent and the city of Norfolk, where he had practiced his 
profession, to King William County, in which he was married. He 
was afterward elected to represent that county in the convention 
called for the purpose of reforming the constitution of Virginia. Sub- 
sequently he was elected to the senate of Virginia, where he served 
side by side with many of the noblest and most distinguished men of 
that State, whether viewed as lawyers or as statesmen ; and though 
at times he was thus brought vividly into comparison with men of as 
much culture and thorough training as his own, he always stood the 
peer of any and all with whom he came in contact. 

It is remembered of him in connection with his professional career 
that no man was more formidable in the statement of facts, no man 
more eloquent in his appeals to the jury. He possessed that great 
clement which underlies success in every enterprise; he had the 
courage at all times and in every situation to seek the truth and to 
speak the truth. 

He came of ancient Scotch lineage, and as I have said spent some 
years in Scotland after the completion of his education here. That 
land has produced men of stronger muscle and of greater brain than 
perhaps any otiier land under the sun. It has lent to England its 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. ic 



greatest statesman; it has lent to America its most distinguished 
professors of learning in every branch of science, literature and art. 
Mr Douglas seemed from this visit to the land of his ancestors to 
borrow something of the spirit and the fire and the devotion to truth 
which have ever belonged to that hardy race, hardy alike in muscle 
and in brain. It may be said of him as was said of one of his dis- 
tinguished ancestors in the celebrated lament of the poet over that 
great Scotchman : 

He is gone on the mountain, 

He is lost to the forest, 
Like a summer-dried fountain, 

When our need was the sorest. 
The font, reappearing, 

From the rain-drops shall borrow, 
But to us comes no cheering. 

To Douglas no morrow. 

The hand of the reaper 

Talces the ears that are hoary. 
But the voice of the weeper 

Wails manhood in glory. 
The autumn winds rushing 

Waft the leaves that are searest. 
But our flower was in flushing, 

When blighting was nearest. 

Fleet foot on the correi. 

Sage counsel in cumber. 
Red hand in the foray. 

How sound is thy slumber ! 
Like the dew on the mountain, 

Like the foam on the river. 
Like the bubble on the fountain. 

Thou art gone and forever ! 

Those who saw Douglas in the days of his ripe manhood, those 
who saw him when he left the pursuits of civil life to take the humble 
rank of a soldier, gradually advancing until he became the major of 
the Fifth Virginia Cavalry, those who have seen him lead the onset 
on the field of battle, must have realized that he came of that hardy 



l6 ADDRESS OF MR. HOOKER ON THE 

race who peopled the heather-side whenever deeds of daring and 
noble venture were to be done. 

But, sir, great as he may have been as a lawyer, sage as he may 
have been as a legislator, wise as he may have been as a Represent- 
ative of his people, there were traits of his character lying apart from 
public view far more endearing to those who were intimately asso- 
ciated with him. Beverly B. Douglas may be forgotten as a law- 
yer, forgotten as a statesman, forgotten as a politician; but he will 
ever be remembered as one whose heart beat responsive to those 
warmer and dearer sentiments that gather round the fireside and 
make home that source of pleasure which it is to us all. As a neigh- 
bor and as a friend he endeared himself to those who knew him. As 
was well said in a letter addressed to one of his distinguished col- 
leagues on this floor and which I saw yesterday, " he was generous 
to a fault; he would fight for a friend, ay ! die for him, if it was neces- 
sary, and feel that he performed but the common duty which his 
heart prompted." It is in these tenderer relations of life that he will 
always live in the affections of the people w-ho knew him best. We, 
his comrades and colleagues, standing reverently and yet affectionately 
on the verge of that sacred circle which embraces within it those who 
were bound to him by the ties of blood and kindred, may claim it as 
our privilege and our duty to mingle our tears with theirs in this 
tribute to those noble traits of character which make a man dear to 
his fellow-citizens and to his friends. 

It was his misfortune some years ago to lose the partner of his life, 
she who had been the light of his life and the joy of his household. 
He left no male heir to transmit his name to future generations. For 
this great loss he was consoled alone by the lovely daughters who 
gathered around his hearth to supply to his home and his heart that 
which he had lost in the partner of his bosom. It was my fortune 
to witness his beautiful devotion, his loving tenderness, his sweet 
care exhibited toward these daughters of his household. When I 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 17 

thus saw him I should have been something more or less than mortal 
if my heart had not warmed toward one who so tenderly felt and so 
readily yielded to their caresses and their wishes. It has been said 
of one like himself, and of his own name, who wept over his daugh- 
ters when they came to cheer him: 

Some feelings are to mortals given, 
With less of earth in them than heaven. 
And if there be a human tear 
From passion's dross refined and clear, 
A tear so limpid and so meek 
It would not stain an angel's cheek, 
'Tis that which a loving father sheds 
Upon his duteous daughter's head ! 
And as the Douglas to his breast 
His darling daughters closely pressed. 
Such holy drops their tresses steeped. 
Though 'twas a hero's eye that weeped. 

These peculiar traits of character endeared him to the people in 
the midst of whom he lived. To them he dedicated the freshness of 
his manhood ; for he was pre-eminently unselfish. But there was 
one characteristic which above all others endeared him to those who 
knew him. I refer to his unswerving fidelity to truth, his conscien- 
tious discharge of duty, from which no temptations or passions could 
seduce him. His conduct in this respect, as exhibited in our inves- 
tigations in this Hall, has often reminded me of that splendid tribute 
which the old Latin poet paid to one of the greatest of the ancient 

heroes : 

Justum et tenacem propositi virum 
Non civium ardor prava jubentium, 
Non vultus instantis tyrrani 

Mente quatit solida, ueque Auster. 

Amidst tlie passions and emotions of humanity, he strewed along 

the pathway of his life, siinple as it was, great deeds, noble actions, 

generous and chivalrous sentiments, shadowed by but a single fault, 

clouded but by a single error, "as the giant oak of his own native 

forests strews its foliage in a kindly largess to the soil it grew on." 



3 li 



i8 



ADDRESS OF MR. WALKER ON THE 



Address of Mr. Walker, op Virginia. 

Mr. Speaker: Again are we called upon to mourn the death of 
an honored member of this House. It should admonish all that 
"in the midst of life we are in death." 

The exemplifications of this solemn truth have been fearfully fre- 
quent in this body during the past few weeks. Four of its members 
have gone down to the tomb, and the tomb never received within its 
somber walls four nobler or braver spirits. Each possessed all those 
high and commanding attributes of both head and heart which com- 
bine to form that noblest work of God, an honest man. 

Him whose memory and merits we to-day commemorate by these 
public and appropriate proceedings I first met in Virginia in the gu- 
bernational campaign of 1869. The acquaintance then begun in the 
midst of the heat and excitement of that memorable struggle soon 
ripened into a warm and devoted friendship, which continued to the 
day of his death unabated and unmarred by a single estrangement. 
In that contest he acted a conspicuous part. Clearly comprehend- 
ing the perils which environed his native State, he abandoned a lucra- 
tive business and the comforts of home, and entering the political 
arena, by his sturdy eloquence and unanswerable logic contributed 
much to the achievements of that grand triumph which restored civil 
government to his beloved State and placed her once more in har- 
mony with the Federal Union. But his patriotic services to the com- 
monwealth were not confined to this one great struggle. Years be- 
fore, and in his early manhood, by the force and vigor of his intellect 
and his unswerving integrity of character and purpose, he rose rap- 
idly in public confidence and esteem, until he came to be regarded as 
one of the foremost men of the State, and among the ablest debaters 
who ever graced the halls of the Virginia general assembly. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 



■9 



Brave and chivalrous in spirit, honest and independent in thought 
and action, as prompt to resent an insult as to forgive an injury, 
earnest in his convictions and sincere in his friendships, Beverly 
Douglas commanded alike the confidence of his friends and the re- 
spect of his foes. Doubtless he had his faults, but who has them not ? 
From the day when Adam was driven forth from the garden of Eden 
to the present moment the pages of recorded history, either sacred 
or profane, are illuminated with the name of but One of spotless hu- 
manity. And what a fitting rebuke that One — the despised Naz- 
arine — administered to the Pharisees (a sect not yet extinct), who 
would stone a woman because she had sinned, when he said unto 
them: 

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 

There are faults of the head and there are faults of the heart. The 
former may sometimes be excused, while the latter may always be 
atoned. My late colleague possessed few faults of the head and 
none of the heart. His great heart ever beat responsive to all that 
was manly, generous, true, and sincere. 

But, sir, I did not rise to pronounce a panegyric upon my deceased 
friend, but rather, in the briefest manner possible, to attest my own 
appreciation of his noble qualities and rare worth. A careful survey 
of these would suggest many useful lessons, but none more pointed 
and expressive, perhaps, than that — 

He lives most who feels most, acts the noblest, lives the best. 



Address of Mr. Springer, of Illinois. 

My acquaintance with Beverly B. Douglas began with the first 
session of the Forty-fourth Congress. Of his life previous to that 
time I know but little, and will leave to his colleagues from Virginia, 



20 ADDRESS OF MR. SPRINGER ON THE 

who have known him from his youth up, the task of speaking appro- 
priately of his eadier years. 

An examination of the Record of the Forty-fourth Congress, the 
first of which Mr. Douglas was a member, will reveal the fact that 
he began his Congressional career with a zeal and industry and sus- 
tained himself in debate with an ability that gave assurance of a 
brilliant future. His constituents were not slow to recognize in him 
a faithful and able representative. 

He was the chairman of a special committee for the investigation 
of the affairs of the Freedman's Bank, and conducted the matter with 
untiring industry and remarkable success. 

He was an earnest advocate of retrenchment of public expendi- 
tures and of reform in the civil service of the country. On one oc- 
casion, in March, 1876, he moved an amendment to the legislative, 
executive, and judicial appropriation bill, reducing the salaries of 
members. In the course of the debate he said: 

In that section of the country which I in part represent, standing in the presence 
of a diminishing revenue and the paralyzed industries all over the country, wilh a 
constant decline in the expense of living, the people did demand, in a voice that 
must be heard here and elsewhere, that there should be a retrenchment in the ex- 
penditures of this government. My equanimity will not be at all disturbed by 
any taunts about my sincerity. 1 will let that question be tested by my acts. I 
will respond to the demand of my constituents .and of the people of this country 
for retrenchment in this government, in every br.anch of it, the legislative as well 
as the others. 

Those who knew Mr. Douglas never for a moment doubted his 
sincerity. He was not a demagogue; he tried to deceive no one; he 
was always truthful and sincere. In advocating the reduction of his 
own salary he evinced his unselfish devotion to the interests of his 
constituents. He never thought of self, of his own interests or am- 
bition, but moved forward fearlessly in the advocacy of what he 
believed to be the right. He had a delicate sense of honor; he did 
not impugn the motives of others, and he resented with indignation 
the slightest reflection upon himself or his friends. He was broad 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 21 

and liberal in his views, and adhered with unmoved purpose to his 
principles. He was generous to a fault, kind to friends, loving to 
his wife during her life-time, and devoted to his children to the hour- 
of his death. 

Mr. Speaker, I will not speak of his frailties. De mortuis nil nisi 
bomim; yet he wronged no man but himself. Who of us will be able 
to claim as much in the last day? 

In the death of Beverly B. Douglas Virginia has lost a faithful 
Representative, those who knew him a firm friend, and his children a 
kind and loving father. Living, he " loved his fellow-men," and dead, 
his memory is cherished by them. May he rest in peace — 

Let the lifeless body rest ! 
He is gone who was its guest. 
Gone as travelers haste to leave 
An inn, nor tarry until eve. 

Traveler ! In what realms afar, 
In what planet, in what star, 
In what vast aerial space, 
Shines the light upon thy face ? 

In what gardens of delight 
Rest thy weary feet to-night ? 



;4;DDRESS OF ^Wr. puNNELL, OF ^VllNNESOTA. 

Mr. Speaker : We are in session at this hour that we may appro- 
priately honor the memory of a fellow-member of this House. At 
your request, sir, on the «2d day of last month, with other members, 
I accompanied the remains of Hon. Beverly B. Douglas from this 
city to their final resting-place in his native State. Mr. Douglas 
was born in New Kent County, Virginia, December 21, 1822. King 
William County, where we saw him buried, was his home, and in it 
he passed the greater part of his life. Thither he went shortly after 
he had completed his academic, collegiate, and professional training. 



22 ADDRESS OF MR. DUKNELL ON THE 

and a few months subsequent to his admission to the bar in 1844, 
when he was twenty-two years of age. 

He was carefully prepared for his chosen profession. The courses 
of study to which he was subjected for discipline in the institutions 
of learning in Virginia, and in the University of Edinburgh, in Scot- 
land, had not failed in their offices. They had thoroughly fitted him 
for an honorable and useful life. The marked enthusiasm and ability 
of which he furnished early and abundant evidence very soon gave 
him a foremost place among the best lawyers in King William and 
the adjoining counties. Many honorable incidents and triumphs in 
his early and later career as a lawyer, in the scene of their occur- 
rence, are there remembered and fondly cherished. They had their 
birth in a mind well cultured, in great personal integrity and honor, 
and in a heart full to overflowing of true kindness. They could not 
fail, as they did not, to make for him many and steadfast friends. 
They furnished a reason for the unmistakable regard and esteem in 
which he was held by his neighbors and friends. They overtopped 
faults and found expression in tears as his remains reached these 
friends and his home. 

At the age of twenty-eight, Mr. Douglas was a member of the 
constitutional convention of Virginia. At that early period in his 
life he was classed among the number concerning whom the com- 
monwealth entertained large expectations. Immediately succeeding 
this public service in the constitutional convention, he commenced 
one of twelve years' duration in the senate of the State. He here 
held an honorable rank among his colleagues. He was a ready and 
forcible debater. 

I refer more especially to the life of Mr. Douglas between the 
years of 1844 and 1861, because in this time he founded and built up 
a reputation so honorable to himself, and to which his many friends 
now unite in pointing with just pride. It was during this period 
tiiat he won for himself, by fixithful labor in professional and jniblic 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 23 



life, the strong attachments which remained to him even to the 
grave. He had the personal characteristics which made him popular 
with the peofjle. He was eminently generous. He will long live in 
the memory of many a humble person in King William County for 
some act of kindness which will have no record save in the faithful 
memory of those upon whom he bestowed his beneficent acts. 

As the funeral procession was moving from the church to the grave, 
a colored man, of middle age, approached me and said : "Will not 
the coffin be opened ? Mr. Douglas was my friend; I want to see 
him once more." For what reason this poor citizen thus felt and 
spoke I cannot tell. He knew the reasons. Beyond doubt he had 
received some aid, some encouragement, some generous treatment 
from his lost friend. 

Human history, Mr. Speaker, is always at fault because never com- 
plete. So the published life of an individual will be at fault, for it 
will leave out many an act of private beneficence, many a noble deed, 
many a great effort for the good of others. These acts may have no 
record save in the books kept by God himself 

Though the life of our friend may teach the truth that — 

'T is wondrous difficult, when once beset, 
To struggle through the straits, and break th' 
Involving net ; 

yet it has been my pleasure to find in that life the fruits and achieve- 
ments of a liberal mental culture, and especially the deeds wrought 
from the impulses of true kindness, for I remember that 

Kind hearts are more than coronets. 



^DDRESS OP yVlR. J'rIDEMORE, OP VIRGINIA. 

Mr. Speaker: Solemn and imposing ceremonies cannot stay the 
hand of death, nor alleviate the distresses of the living. Yet the 
common consent of mankind justifies the erection of monuments to 



24 ADDRESS OF MR. PRIDEMORE ON THE 

the memory and the recording of the deeds of the illustrious dead. 
Deeply impressed with the sad rites accorded our distinguished and 
lately departed brothers, I was moved to see, as the mournful pan- 
orama passed before me, men whom the world calls great — grave and 
reverend Senators, foemen in the ambitious contests for political 
supremacy — moving down these aisles, arm in arm, like children. 
There, too, was the President of the United States, and distinguished 
judges who sit to pass in the last resort upon the most sacred rights 
of man, all bowed to the triumphs of the conquering hand of death, 
before whose victories their wisdom was turned into folly, their am- 
bition into humiliation, and their fame into forgetfulness. A mo- 
ment and they pass on, each to resume his journey in life — a 
journey that in its turn must end in death. Amid the solemnity of 
these scenes my eyes fell upon the vacant seat of my distinguished 
colleague, the late Hon. Beverly B. Douglas. Memory recalled 
the men and the times when, more than a quarter of a century ago, 
he came first upon the theater of public life. At no period had Vir- 
ginia presented to the world a greater array of her gifted sons or 
distinguished men. Major Douglas at an early age contended with 
these his countrymen for the prize of political and forensic suprem- 
acy, and won for himself a name second to no man of the time. 

Devoted to the history and traditions of his native land, he wor- 
shiped at the shrine of her past glory and rising greatness. While 
yet in the prime of life and advancing fortune war sounded her dread 
trump, and called to arms. Differing with many of his countr)-mcn, 
but sharing the views of his own people he joined them in the con- 
flict, and asserted amid the sulphuric flames of battle what he and 
they believed to be the constitutional rights and sacred honor of Vir- 
ginia. He bore without spot or blemish the colors committed to his 
hands, and won from strife and death distinguished honors as a sol- 
dier. He had seen and served the old State in the pomp and power 
of her prosperity. He now followed her fortunes in the dangers and 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 25 

perils of adversity ; beheld her devastated fields, desolated homes, and 
fatherless children ; ay, more, he saw the triumphs of war blot her 
from the galaxy of States, and himself and comrades disrobed of the 
sacred rights of citizenship; saw strangers giving laws and claiming 
dominion over the land of the Berkeleys, Henrys, and Randolphs. 
To this common fate he bowed in silence, and awaited — it may be im- 
patiently — the hour of her redemption. The shackles at last cleft 
from his hands, his comrades and countrymen again crowned him 
with honors and clothed him with the powers of a Representative 
upon this floor. 

But of his services here others can more fittingly speak. With a 
mind more than ordinarily gifted by nature, strengthened by a clas- 
sical education, humorous and genial, he lent a charm to social life 
that made him the idol of the society in which he moved. Through 
his long and varied services as a citizen, soldier, and public man no 
blot or stain ever approached the sacred precincts of his fair name. 
May the sod rest lightly upon his bosom and Virginia ever hold his 
distinguished services in grateful remembrance; for of all the great 
and good now resting in her soil there sleeps not one who loved her 
more than Douglas. 



Address of ^VIr. Clark, of Towa. 

Mr. Speaker, I rise with some hesitation to speak of our deceased 
fellow-member, Hon. B. B. Douglas, as I have not had that per- 
sonal acquaintance which would admit of my speaking of him from 
a standpoint of acquaintanceship. Although I saw and knew Mr. 
Douglas frequently upon the floor of this House, I was never brought 
in contact with him. I knew not of his sickness until I heard of his 
death. 



4 D 



26 ADDRESS OF MR. CLARK ON THE 

Death has inexorably added many to his list from this House. 
Nothing has been so gratifying to the friends of each as the sincere 
regret for the loss and sympathy for the mourning relatives — as the 
impressive ceremonies observed by the House. 

The entire absence of personal knowledge of Mr. Douglas on my 
part will compel me to be very brief. Others will have spoken of 
his life and personal qualities at greater length. I can only speak of 
him as a member of this House, except as I have learned of him from 
others who have known and admired him in earlier years and to the 
time of his death ; and I honor that great heart in human nature 
which, while it forgets the faults of the dead, remembers the virtues 
and all good qualities. 

I am able to speak of our deceased member with more particular- 
ity because of the fact that I was one of the committee appointed by 
the Speaker of this House to escort the remains to their "last house." 
I did not feel at liberty to neglect that duty, notwithstanding many 
other duties. 

The immediate friends of Mr. Douglas spoke of him in the highest 
terms. At his old home his funeral received every evidence of the 
confidence, not to say devotion, of the community to his name. The 
love for him and admiration for his memory were manifest every- 
where in his district. He was brilliant as a senator of the State and 
as a lawyer at the bar — called the Nestor of the bar — and his ability 
was recognized and acknowledged until death claimed him. 

In the chilling excursion across the country to the home of Mr. 
Douglas the committee appointed by the Speaker received every 
evidence of esteem and honor. No pains were spared to have us un- 
derstand that we had come as the committee attending the remains 
of Mr. DouGL/\s and therefore as friends of his people. No higher 
evidence of the devotion to the deceased or reverence for his services 
and memory could have been shown than were during the visit of 
the committee. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 27 

At the time expected by the friends we met them at the village of 
Mr. Douglas's residence and attended his remains to the church. 
The entire community seemed to be present to attest their respect 
for his memory. Impressively Mr. Douglas vi'as buried near his 
deceased wife, and near his old home, and there "may his ashes rest 
in peace." 

I am told, Mr. Speaker, that Mr. Douglas was brilliant and able, 
and regarded by his constituents as one of the most promising and 
really able men of Virginia. 

Mr. Speaker, if Mr. Douglas had faults or frailties (and who is 
free of all our human kind) we cast the mantle of Christian charity 
over them after the example of the great Master. The immediate 
friends of the deceased member testify also to his goodness of heart 
and openness of hand. I commend his excellencies and "leave his 
short-comings to his Saviour." 

Not much can be said to remove or alleviate the article of death. 
There are those who feel this affliction more than we, those who feel 
that " the silver cord is loosed, and the golden bowl broken." And 
now, when the night and shadow of death have settled upon our 
brother and the vail has been dropped between him and us, and 
when the "mortal has put on immortality," we commend to the 
guardian care of the all-wise Father the orphan little ones of the 
household. And, too, nothing which may be said by human tongue 
can lift the burden which the death of a father rests upon the hearts 
at the hearthstone. We can only recognize these visitations with 
that awe which knows no power of resistance. 



Address of M.r. Tucker, of Virginia. 

Mr. Speaker: The advent of a new member to this Hall is some- 
times under circumstances which place him in a relation to public 
business not congenial to his tastes nor suited to the exhibition of his 



2S ADDRESS OF MR. TUCKER ON THE 

peculiar powers. It is thus not possible for his associates to appreciate 
his merits or to estimate the grade of his capacity. Especially is this 
the case with one from the South, the relations of which to this gov- 
ernment for many years have made Southern men much less familiar 
with the general policy of the administration of public affairs than 
are gentlemen from the North. 

The members of this House from one cause or another have had 
no adequate opportunity to understand why the people of his district 
selected my late friend and colleague, Hon. Beverly B. Douglas, 
as eminently worthy to represent them in this House. It is there- 
fore the duty, not only customary but imperative, of his friends to 
present in its proper light the character of Mr. Douglas, and to de- 
lineate in truthful lines the noble qualities of his heart and the 
splendid endowments of his intellect as he was known to us; because 
he never found the appropriate occasion for manifesting them in the 
discussions upon this floor. 

I knew him in boyhood, for we were schoolmates at the Richmond 
Academy, an institution well fitted to prepare a student for his col- 
legiate career. Its teachers in the classics and in mathematics were 
eminent in talents and character, and possessed of large acquire- 
ments. 

I remember him at that early period as distinguished for his talents 
as a debater — talents which shone so splendidly in his after life. He 
was educated liberally at William and Mary College and at Harvard. 
He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and 
afterward the law in the school of William and Mary. He gave rich 
promise as a collegiate of future eminence. 

He was a planter as well as a lawyer, and thus his professional life 
was developed according to a type so peculiar in Virginia and other 
parts of the South — that of the country lawyer. 

This is a character which is now fast passing away, whom I would 
fain rescue from oblivion. Such a lawyer lived upon his farm, whicii 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 29 

he cultivated, and attended the courts, without any strict devotion 
to business in his office. His Hbrary was not measured by the num- 
ber but the weight of his books. He read and mastered Bracton, 
Coke, Hale, and Blackstone. His reports were few — my Lord 
Coke's, Salkeld, Saunders, Atkyns's, Equity Cases, and the like. He 
read history much, and studied the human heart profoundly. Amid 
the mountains, hills, valleys, forests, and fields about his country 
home, he meditated much upon natural law. The principles of right 
and justice implanted in the instincts of our nature and deducible 
from observation and experience, he evolved from his own native in- 
tuitions and reason. He wrought out by original thought what law 
ought to be, without learning much from the decisions of the judges, 
and thus in ninety-nine cases in a hundred he found what was the 
law in any special controversy. He was less technical than the city 
lawyer, skilled by ample practice and full libraries in the infinitely 
varied phases of social contacts and contracts. He was less scien- 
tific, but more philosophic; his views were less astute probably, but 
more broad and fundamental; and his generalizations less accurate, 
because deduced from a less number of particulars. 

The law he learned was that whose "seat is the bosom of God 
and whose voice is the harmonj- of the vyorld " : Nee enim alia lex 
RotncB, alia Aihenis, alia nunc, alia posihac, sed et omnes gen/es, et omni 
tempore, una lex et sempiterna et immutabile contincbit. 

It was by this self-discipline, by this evolution of law as a system 
of real right, of absolute justice, in the political, social, and domestic 
relations of men, from the profound study of human nature and of the 
records of human history, that Patrick Henry was enabled, the coun- 
try lawyer of Hanover, to write upon the fly-leaf of his Coke upon 
Littleton those resolutions of 1764, proposed in the Virginia house of 
burgesses, which challenged George HI to remember Caesar's fate 
and the bloody scaffold of Charles Stuart; to strike the key-note of 
religious emancipation when he pleaded for the people against the 



30 ADDRESS OF MR. TUCKER OX THE 

parsons, and to forget the thunderbolt of revolution in the proclama- 
tion of his sublime dilemma of "Liberty or Death," to the colonies 
struggling in the military grasp of British despotism. 

I do not doubt that John Marshall, the most illustrious of the 
Chief Justices of the United States, under the classic shades of his 
country seat at Oak Hill, framed the inexorable logic of his argu- 
ment in the case of Jonathan Robbins, and constructed those canons 
of interpretation in that series of marvelous judgments, which laid 
the foundation of his fame as the greatest e.xpounder of our Federal 
Constitution. 

Time fails me to tell of the judges who were trained in this school 
of natural law for the science of jurisprudence. Pendleton and 
Wythe, Jefferson and Madison, John Taylor and Roane, and a host 
of others, are a galaxy of great men who were thoughtful jurists, 
though not case lawyers, taught by a profound knowledge of human 
nature and a large and varied experience in human affairs, to rear the 
temple of a sound jurisprudence, upon the deep foundations of nat- 
ural justice and upon the law of God. 

In my own life I have known scores of such men whose broad and 
comprehensive views of right and wrong, and whose acute and pow- 
erful minds thus trained, made them the equals and frequently the 
superiors of other lawyers, learned in cases and trained by the read- 
ing of law-books and reports without end. 

Mr. Douglas was such a lawyer. Far less well read in reports 
than many of his cotemporaries, but with an acute and powerful 
mind, analytic in its processes and clear and intuitive in the detection 
of a fallacy; logical and cogent in reasoning, full of satire, sarcasm, 
and humor; overwhelming in invecdve, with literary taste and cul- 
ture to add grace and ornament to his argument, he was the peer 
of any of his associates at the bar, and the superior of most of them 
in his genius as an advocate before the courts and the most intelli- 
gent juries of his country. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 31 



But there was another arena upon Avhich he attained an excellence 
even higher than at the bar. 

The hustings of Virginia from an early period have been the scene 
as well as the school for the highest powers of debate. 

The county courts of Virginia, meeting every month, have been 
the occasions for the assembling of the people. On court-day the 
representatives of opposing political parties met upon the hustings to 
discuss public affairs. The people heard both sides, quietly and 
fairly. 

The debaters divided time — opened, answered, replied, and re- 
joined. In the olden time the country people listened in dignified 
silence. The clap-trap of the demagogue was but little heeded. 
With sound sense and true eloquence, principles were expounded and 
facts were arrayed which carried the day. All the resources of rea- 
son, oratory, wit, humor, invective, and satire were called into play; 
misrepresentation was corrected by the adversary, detraction was sub- 
jected to censure, and fallacy in reasoning to exposure. 

This institution of our society was a discipline to the gladiators 
and a school of instruction to the people. It begat fairness, 
candor, and sound reasoning in the debaters, and furnished the 
people with the materials of a just decision upon the great ques- 
tions of the day. I may be excused for saying that one of 
the most memorable debates which authentic tradition has given 
us occurred upon the hustings at March court, 1799, of Charlotte 
County. The greatest orator of America made his last, and his 
successor to the confidence of his people made his first speech; 
and thus as the sun of Henry sank below the horizon in its even- 
ing splendor, that of his youthful friend rose into the firmament in 
its morning glory. 

On the hustings Mr. Douglas had no superior, and few if any 
equals. He met foemen worthy of his steel, and I have in my pos- 
session a letter from one of the present judges of the court of appeals 



32 ADDRESS OF MR. TUCKER ON THE 

of Virginia, so long a distinguished party rival and yet warm personal 
friend of Mr. Douglas, in which he says with generous praise: 

I knew him and felt him in the full flush of his intellectual powers and trans- 
cendent genius. I have met him at the bar, in the senate, and on the hustings, 
and I can truly say, after no small experience, that he was the equal if not the su- 
perior in these different arenas of any man I ever heard speak. 

Mr. Douglas was for many years a member of the senate of 
Virginia. As a debater in that body he was, if not the first, in the 
very first line. A distinguished statesman of Virginia, and a political 
opponent then, has often said that he regarded him as able a man as 
his great namesake of Illinois (with whom the narrator had served in 
Congress), and a better speaker. 

If I may venture to criticise Mr. Douglas's intellect I would say 
that his powers were rather analytic than synthetic, more able to de- 
tect and expose error in an adversary than to build up a theor)' of 
his own, more destructive than constructive in its powers. He labored 
for the truth, which he loved, but he worked with more vigor to 
destroy falsehood, which he detested in the depths of his soul. 

Having thus spoken of the mental power of my friend, it remains to 
speak of his character. That he had infirmities and faults I do not 
deny. Let him who has no beam in his own, seek to pluck the mote 
out of his brother's eye! Let charity and the grave hide them from our 
view; while his virtues bloom in fragrant memory about his tomb. 

He was brave and generous — " A Douglas tender and true." " The 
Douglas in his hall" was hospitable, kind, and liberal to rich and 
poor. His nature was benevolent and charitable. Quick tojesent a 
wrong, he was placable and easy to forgive if none was intended; 
and, when assured he had wronged another, his magnanimity in re- 
dressing it was proiTipt, noble, and conspicuous. Ardent and constant 
in his affections, he was tenderly devoted as a husband and father; 
a loyal, liberal, and unselfish friend that did not follow wealth and 
fame, nor leave the wretcli to weep. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF DEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 33 

As a private citizen and neighbor he was just, kind, and public- 
spirited. His integrity and honor were beyond question. As a pub- 
He man he was incorruptible, honest, sincere in his opinions, and 
broad and cathoHc in his views. 

Can we wonder that his people loved such a man, and trusted him 
as their Representative, and clung to him with fond admiration of 
his genius and of the noble qualities of his nature ? And will not 
the Representatives of this great Union join with us of Virginia in 
mourning the loss of so much of genius, ability, public honor, and 
private virtue to his family and friends, to his State, and to our com- 
mon country? 

Death has of late been busy in laying his icy hand upon our com- 
rades in this Hall. Among them all, I scruple not to say that the 
grave has closed upon no one whose genius and noble characteristics 
merit more richly our sympathy and our honorable sorrow than my 
life-long friend and colleague, Beverly Douglas. While we pay 
our tribute to his mental endowments and moral worth, let us reach 
out with the warmest sympathy of our hearts to his bereaved and 
orphan children, whose only solace will be found in human love and 
in the tender mercies of the God of the fatherless. 

The question being taken on the resolutions submitted by Mr. 
GooDE, they were adopted unanimously; and then, in accordance 
with the last resolution (at four o'clock and five minutes p. m.), the 
House adjourned. 



5D 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE, 



January 23, 1879. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. George M. 
Adams, its clerk, announced that the House had passed resolutions 
in regard to the death of Beverly B. Douglas, late a member of 
the House from the State of Virginia. 

Mr. Johnston. A message has come from the House in regard to 
the death of Mr. Douglas. I ask that the resolutions of the House 
lie on the table, subject to be called up by me hereafter. 

The Vice-President. That course will be pursued. 



February 27, 1S79. 
The Presiding Officer. The resolutions of the House of Rep- 
resentatives concerning the death of Hon. Beverly B. Douglas 
will be reported. 

The Secretary read as follows : 

In the House of Representatives, 

yanuary 22, 1S79. 
Resolved, That this House has heard with deep regret of the death 
of Hon. Beverly B. Douglas, a Representative from the State of 
Virginia. 

Resolved, That the House do now suspend tlie consideration of all 
other business in order to pay appropriate respect to the memory of 
the lamented deceased. 



Resolved, That in token of regret the members of this House do 
wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of this House do communicate these 
resolutions to the Senate of the United States. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased the House do now adjourn. 

Mr. Withers. Mr. President, I offer the resolutions which I send 
to the Chair. 

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions will be read. 

The Secretary read as follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate receives with sorrow the announcement 
of the death of Hon. Beverly B. Douglas, late a member of the 
House of Representatives from the State of Virginia, and tenders to 
the family and kindred of the deceased the assurance of sympathy 
under their sad bereavement. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect for the memory of the de- 
ceased the members and officers of the Senate will wear the usual 
badge of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be directed to transmit 
to the family of Mr. Douglas a certified copy of these resolutions. 



^DDRESS OF yVlR. ^ITHERS, OF yiRGINIA. 

Mr. President: The continued and protracted indisposition of 
my colleague, the senior Senator from Virginia, has prevented earlier 
action on the House resolutions just reported, commemorative of the 
death of Beverly B. Douglas, late Representative of the first Con- 
gressional district of Virginia. This delay, not more to be regretted 
than its cause, will necessitate a briefer tribute to the memory of Mr. 
Douglas than would otherwise be accorded his distinguished merit 
and many virtues. 

The suddenly fatal attack which on the morning of the 2 2d of 



36 ADDRESS OF MR. WITHERS ON THE 

December last closed the mortal career of one so highly appreciated 
and honored by his fellow-citizens shocked the sensibilities of the 
public and added another to the list of departed statesmen, since so 
sadly increased by successive fatalities until the mortality among the 
members of the Forty-fifth Congress has become so unprecedented 
as to have excited universal comment, not indeed unmingled with a 
degree of suspicion which if unfounded was certainly not unnatural. 

Stricken down in the full vigor of matured manhood by the 
unseen enemy which ever dogs our steps, prompt to seize on any 
unguarded avenue of approach to sap or storm the citadel of life, he 
passed away, unconscious of the presence of sorrowing friends or the 
devoted ministrations of an affectionate and idolized daughter, and 
was borne to his last earthly resting place in the sacred bosom of his 
native State, where the dark and somber pine forests, in never end- 
ing cadence, sigh their mournful requiem. 

Beverly B. Douglas was born in New Kent County, Virginia, 
on the 2ist day of December, 1822, and was called away on the 22d 
of December, 1878, having but just completed his fifty-sixth year. 
His career in life was neither uneventful nor unsuccessful. De- 
scended in direct line from the historic family of the same name in 
Scodand, he was in many respects a worthy scion of that noble stock. 
His educational advantages were ample. His record in academy, 
college, and university, both in America and in Europe, gave assur- 
ance of a life of usefulness and distinction. A proficient in the tech- 
nical lore of the two learned professions of medicine and law, he 
might have pursued either with every prospect of success. Influ- 
enced, doubtless, by his natural tastes and inclinations, he selected 
the latter, and with his characteri.stic energy and industry devoted 
him self assiduously to its practice, first in his native county of New 
Kent, and subsequently in King William. He speedily established his 
rci)utation as an accurate reasoner, a skilled debater, and a master 
of the science of law. His practice rapidly extended througli the 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 37 

counties adjacent, and few members of the profession were more 
generally knovvn or more highly esteemed. 

Many years had not passed ere his own inclination and the partial- 
ity of his fellow-citizens, who correctly appreciated his capacity for 
more valuable service in the public councils, called him into the 
political arena, and from that time to the day of his death he was a 
prominent figure in the forefront of Virginia politicians. 

His first public service, I believe, was as a member of the consti- 
tutional convention of Virginia in 1850, and here, though confronted 
with many of the first men of Virginia, he was speedily recognized 
as a debater of more than ordinary power, and the close of the ses- 
sion found him the recognized leader of the Democratic party in his 
section of the State. In 1852 he was elected a member of the senate 
of Virginia and was successively re-elected by an admiring and con- 
fiding constituency for twelve consecutive years. In this arena his 
powers as a debater shone conspicuously and he was universally 
regarded by his political opponents as one of the most formidable 
antagonists to be encountered in the arena of debate. 

His services on the hustings were more than usually arduous, con- 
spicuous, and effective. As Congressional and State canvasser, and 
as Presidential elector, he constantly confronted, not only within his 
own district but throughout the State, the chosen champions of the 
old Whig party, who, neither deficient in ability nor unknown to 
fame, found in Douglas " a foeman worthy of their steel," and the 
brightest lance among them all won few trophies from the hard-hit- 
ting and thoroughly-panoplied champion of the " unterrified Democ- 
racy." When Virginia was called on to furnish her quota of troops 
to assist in the subjugation of the seceding States, Mr. Douglas, true 
to those doctrines of State sovereignty which he had ever advocated 
and sustained, felt no hesitation in dedicating his sword to the main- 
tenance in the field of the principles he had ever inculcated in the 
council, and though exempt from military service by virtue of his 



^S ADDRESS Ol-' MR. WITHERS ON THE 

legislative position, he at once entered the army, and, with a courage 
which never failed and a faith which never faltered, did his devoir as 
became a " Douglas bold" on many a well-fought field. 

Returning at the close of hostilities to his country home, he was at 
once recalled to public position at a time when the future of Virginia 
was shadowed by clouds and darkness and her most vital interests 
were threatened with destruction. In the extraordinary canvass of 
1868, and the equally active contest of the succeeding year, Major 
Douglas figured conspicuously and contributed not a little to the 
final triumph of conservatism over radicalism. These services were 
recognized and rewarded, and in 1869 he was nominated and elected 
a member of the Forty-fourth Congress from the first district of Vir- 
ginia, and with quiet assiduity at once devoted himself to the effi- 
cient discharge of the novel duties of his high position. The business 
capacity and discriminating intelligence with which, as chairman of 
the special committee, he conducted a most laborious and difficult 
investigation into the management and afiairs of the Freedman's 
Bank, marked him at once as the possessor of energy, industry, and 
capacity. His report on the subject will ever stand a monument of 
patient research and fearless declaration. 

He was re-elected without opposition to the Forty-fifth Congress, a 
conclusive evidence of his efficiency as a Representative and the appre- 
ciative confidenceof his constituents. To this brief biographical sketch 
I shall add but little. The rapidly closing hours of the present Con- 
gress admonish us that extended eulogy, however consonant with our 
feelings and appropriate to his character, may not now be indulged. 

Beverly Douglas was not without his foibles and his faults. 
Not often can the world look upon a character free from imperfec- 
tions, nor will the generous and noble delight to dwell on these im- 
]icrfections and neglect to do homage to those high and lofty virtues 
which, as in the character before us, illuminate with ennobling light 
the memories which yet linger with us. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF BEVERLY B. DOUGLAS. 39 

A personal acquaintance extending through many years enables 
me truthfully to characterize Major Douglas as a gentleman pos- 
sessed of many of the highest attributes of manhood. Generous to 
a fault, brave, kind-hearted, hospitable, and, above all, truthful, he 
scorned a mean action, but was ever ready to minister to the wants 
of the friendless, and with ready charity to apologize for the weak 
and errijig, where weakness and error was stained with no taint of 
dishonor. He was no fair-weather friend. Once his confidence was 
won, nothing but dishonor could break the ties which bound him to 
his fellow-man, and misfortune or adversity only intensified his feel- 
ings and stimulated his affections. With such an array of virtues, 
who will refuse to throw the mantle of charity over his one great 
weakness, and remember him through all time as the kind, liberal, 
brave, and noble gentleman, who was "tender and true," as became 
one of his noble lineage. 



^DDRESS OF AIr. ThURMAN, OF DhIO. 

Mr. President: It is with unfeigned embarrassment that I speak 
on this occasion. My embarrassment is caused by the fact that I 
not only had no personal acquaintance with the deceased, but I am 
not aware that I ever saw him; and I have learned, Mr. President, 
in the long years that I have lived, that there is nothing more dan- 
gerous and often unjust than tlie opinion we form of men we have 
never known. I am not a man of prejudices, and yet I confess that 
ten years ago I came into this Senate with very strong prejudices 
against men whom I afterward learned to esteem, if not to love; and 
I have come to the conclusion that no man is certain to form a correct 
opinion of another unless he has known him. 

In the oldest church existing in Christendom it is the custom not 
to canonize any one until a hundred years have passed away, so that, 
without prejudice, without passion, a correct opinion of his character 



40 ADDRESS OF MR. THURMAN ON THE 

may be formed. And yet, Mr. President, I doubt whether there is 
any opinion of a man's character so well founded as that which is 
formed by the men who know him intimately and well. Therefore 
it is that I speak with diffidence about our departed friend , and yet, 
although I never knew him personally, I knew him, as we all did, by 
reputation. Those who knew him well and who were his personal 
friends and his political associates have said to me that he was a man 
of singular ability and great acquirements — not only in one profession, 
but in two of the greatest professions in the world. Mr. President, 
he came of that race, the Scottish race, of whom it has been said that 
logic is their inheritance; and from what I have heard of him, he not 
only inherited the logic that belongs to that race, but also the elo- 
quence that belongs to another race and by which such wonderful 
power is acquired over the human heart. 

Mr. President, I never heard but one fault attributed to him, and 
that is a fault which is latterly the subject of much study and con- 
sideration. If that were his fault, he was more to be pitied and com- 
miserated than condemned, for intemperance is a disease. We might 
quote other men distinguished in the annals of the world who were 
even more guilty than he, if g\iilt can be predicated of that misfor- 
tune. We might speak of Sheridan, of Fox, of Pitt. Ah, Mr. Presi- 
dent, I can remember when the same charge was made against Clay 
and Webster and Wright. But no one mentions it now e.\cept to 
regret it. 

Mr. President, I am well satisfied that a man so loved by those 
who knew him, so honored by the intelligent constituency among 
whom he lived, so distinguished in every public station he ever held, 
so much respected in every private circle, was a man whose memory 
it becomes us to cherish. 



^DDRESS OF ^R. j^EREFORD, OF WeST VIRGINIA. 

Mr. President : Again has the pale horse, mounted by his rider, 
Death, passed through the Halls and corridors of this Capitol of the 
nation and carried captive one of our brethren. Again and again of 
late has his terrible tramp resounded through these Halls, causing 
the thoughtful to stop for a while and ask themselves the question. 
Who next ? 

Neither rider nor horse ever tire. Night and day, over land and 
sea, ever since man became mortal, all through the lapse of countless 
ages have they been on their heartless errand. 

We have for a while ceased from our labors for the living to com- 
mune with the dead, to pay the last sad tribute of respect to the late 
Beverly B. Douglas, one of the Representatives of the State of 
Virginia. 

Of his life and character you have heard from the lips of one of his 
colleagues in this body [Senator Withers]. It was meet and proper 
that he should have done so, and well has the task been performed. 

I had the pleasure of serving in the House of Representatives with 
him and knew him quite well. It was not difficult to know him well. 
He had no concealments. He was open, frank, and bold, in all of 
his dealings, both in public and private. 

There was nothing mysterious about him. He could truthfully 
have said, 

My outward action doth demonstrate 
The native act and figure of my lieart. 

Mr. Douglas was a fine scholar, a good lawyer, an eloquent advo- 
cate, and a powerful debater, handling all the weapons with peculiar 
facility and power, whether of wit, humor, sarcasm, ridicule, logic, or 
the most brilliant flights of oratory. He was brave and chivalrous. 



6 D 



ADDRESS OF MR. HEREFORD. 



He had a great big heart throbbing with noble and generous impulses, 
which sometimes carried him too far for his own good. There are 
some men to whom we are involuntarily drawn the first time we meet 
them. Such a man was Mr. Douglas. 

He was often honored by his State, and as often acquitted himself 
with distinction. Mr. Douglas was a man of strongly marked char- 
acteristics. When dealing with an adversary, his resistless will was 
as impetuous as the torrent; but with his friends, the hurricane of 
those passions was hushed as in peace, and breathed calmly and 
gently as a summer zephyr. A more devoted father I never knew — 
kind, considerate, and tender; the home is now cheerless, fatherless 
and motherless. But, to him who believes in the Christian religion 
there is one consolation in the midst of these aflSictions, that there is 
a time coming when " Old Time, the father of centuries and the 
tomb-builder of generations, will drop his broken scythe and break 
his glass, careen and fall, a giant in ruins." Then such believer can 
stand over the fallen giant and exultantly exclaim, " O Death, where 
is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?" 

But we must close. Our friend — 

Serenely to his final rest has passed, 

While the soft memory of his virtues yet 

Lingers, like twilight hues when the bright sun has set. 



Mr. Withers. Now, sir, I ask the adoption of the resolutions 
which I submitted. 

The Presiding Officer. The Senator from Virginia moves that 
ilie resolutions submitted by him be adopted. 

Tiie resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

Mr. Withers. As a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, I move that the Senate do now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; and (at six o'clock and twenty-two 
minutes p. ni.) t!ic Senate adjourned. 



